EMAIL MARKETING: TO DO OR NOT TO DO?

     There is a debate going on as to whether or not email marketing is dead.  Whatever you have heard about this, it may be worthwhile to try an email marketing campaign because those who have been successful with this type of marketing have succeeded greatly.  The trick is to do it right and that is where this blog comes in.

     The first tip will seem a little obvious but it can be something that marketers overlook.  The sign-up form for your web page must be in an obvious place where people will see it.  If it is off to the side or at the bottom of the page it can be overlooked.  Placing it in the middle of the page in a conspicuous place will be the best bet for your sign-up form. 

     We have all seen the messages that assure us that our information will not be sold, rented or given to anyone for any reason.  This is the type of thing that you will have to include in your sign-up form.  It will encourage people to join your email list if they are told that you will not have to worry about your information being compromised. 

     To make it desirable to receive your email newsletters, you can show them an example of your work.  It is important to let the customer know exactly what they will be receiving in their email inboxes when they subscribe to your newsletter.  It will cut down on those who unsubscribe, if they discover that they are not receiving what they believed they would receive.  They will know exactly what they are going to get and how often they will get it.  Give them as much information as you can. 

     You may be thinking that there is not enough space on your website to supply all this information.  That is true.  There is a simple solution to this problem.  Have a link to subscribe to your email list that takes them to a page where you can show them everything you want to show them.  You can ask for information, not too much at first; you don’t want to scare them away.  This is also a place where you can ask them a few questions such as what they are looking for, what type of business they have, etc.  This is a place to take a little time to get to know a little about your prospective customers.  You can continue this activity during your email campaign. 

     Doing email marketing right and periodically doing maintenance to make sure you are giving your customers what they are looking for will put you on the road to succeeding at email marketing.  It is possible to win with this type of marketing.

KEEP OFF OF THE DREADED BLACKLIST

     Email marketing can be a great tool for expanding your business.  It would be advantageous to develop an email list to market to over and over again, with their permission of course.  It can leave you with a steady stream of customers as long as you are in business.  This email list can serve more than one purpose.  As well as being a constant customer base, your email list is also available to be a test market.  Through them you can send surveys periodically and ask them what they are looking for so you can provide it for them.  This is a great option for any internet marketer.

     What worries some people who are considering beginning an email campaign is being accused of spamming people.  Spam is unsolicited email when those people did not consent to receive email from you.  If you do this, you can get into a lot of trouble you will not want to be in. The people you send unsolicited email to can complain to your Internet Service Provider (ISP).  The result may be that you lose your email account; all the money you spent or all the hard work you may have done to build an email list will have been wasted.  Your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or domain names will be recorded and placed on a list, called a blacklist.  Once you are on this blacklist you will be prevented from sending email from these sources.  Email marketing will be over for you.

     There are things that you can do to prevent the above from happening.  Actually, there are things you should not do and you will be less likely to be accused of spamming your list.  The first thing you should not do is rent an email list.  Sending an email to a list of people and asking them to join your list is better than sending out a completely unsolicited email, but it can be considered spam, even though you are asking them for permission to send them email; the first email asking permission is still an unsolicited email.  The best thing is to have an opt-in list.  With an opt-in option, people can enter their names and email addresses into your sign-up form which will be sent to you.  An email is sent automatically to them from your autoresponder requiring them to click a link subscribing them to your email list.  If everyone does this, you cannot be accused of spamming them.  Further helping you stay off blacklists is to have an unsubscribe link in every email; it is a requirement.  Following these rules can keep you off of blacklists and keep you earning money from your email list.

SPAM CONTINUED

     SPAM.  It’s such a hated concept that there are laws against it.  Spam, generally, means that an entity has sent mass mailings to the inboxes of people who have not requested to be on that person’s mailing list.  ISPs have spam filters which will scan an email for particular charge words.  Money is a good example of a word that the spam filters will send to their junk folders.  If your email contains the word money, the spam filter bets that your email is one of the many solicitations for business opportunities that were not permission-based.  By the way, opportunity is another one of those words to stay away from.  Your email may be permitted to be sent to your clients, but because you have those words in it, it loses its ability to be read. 

     The answer to this problem is computer software.  Software exists that will help you identify words that are targeted as words contained in spam emails.  The software will add characters to your email that will allow them to pass by the spam filters.  Your emails also need to be formatted properly in order to get past the spam filters.  Software can help you with this, too.  It will give you the ability to send emails to prospects asking them to opt-in and can give you the all-important unsubscribe link. 

     Bulk email marketing can present difficulties for those who would like to send mail to hundreds of thousands of email clients.  There are companies that can help you do this and help your emails pass the spam filters.  Some companies even suggest that they can send 70 million emails without ever being accused of spamming!  If you would like to take a chance with these companies you are free to do so, but it may end up causing more headaches than celebrations.  Starting out with the small list you have and doing it right as described in this blog, you may be less likely to be put on a blacklist. 

     You can do this all yourself.  You can use software that helps you create emails that are not targeted as spam and there is also software that will help you send out and manage a large number of emails.  With this type of software there is a one-time payment which eliminates the need to pay monthly fees to email marketing companies.  You may not have 70 million emails to send in a month, but it is better to be safe than to think you will have millions of customers to mail to and then end up being blacklisted.